Course Psychopharmacoloy
Gilles van Luijtelaar, Biological Psychology, DCC, RU Nijmegen
BIOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF
DEPRESSION, AD’S, AND OTHER
TREATMENTS
, Depression and mania belong to the
category of affective disturbances
A biological theory was politically not correct in the
seventies and eighties of the last century
The old Greeks had a psychobiological theory on
depression. Hippocrates called depression
“melancholia” and it was caused by too much black gal.
2400 year later there are different biological theories:
Mono-amine theory
Mono-amine receptor theory
Mono-amine theory of AD action on gene expression
Glutamate (ketamine) theory
,1) Major (unipolar) depression disorder (MDD)
2) Bipolar depression (manic-depression)
3) Dysthymia
3 TYPES OF AFFECTIEVE
DISTURBANCES
, DSM V criteria 1-4 for major
depressive episode:
/
Many related to vitality :
1. Persistence of depressed -
eating
mood nearly every day (> 2 sleeping
-
having
weeks)
- set .
2. Diminished interest or
pleasure (anhedonia), e.g.
loss of libido (vegetative),
nearly every day
3. Serious weight fluctuations;
loss of appetite
(vegetative), almost daily
4. Insomnia or hypersomnia
(vegetative), almost daily
37 Copyright © 2004 Allyn and Bacon